What do you get when you team the world’s largest online marketplace with the world’s largest retail trade association to take on organized retail crime? The hope is sweeping reform.
The National Retail Federation and eBay have formed a partnership against crime — and they are getting support from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, other retailers, and new technology that identifies and attacks organized retail crime.
“NRF has done a great job of shining a spotlight on the issue of organized retail crime, but retailers cannot fight this problem alone,” said Paul Jones, global director of asset protection for eBay. “Through this partnership, NRF and eBay are putting criminals on notice that they will no longer be able to steal from retailers and abuse the online marketplace for profit.”
A Tag-Team Approach
The NRF and eBay said their partnership will provide greater information sharing to target organized retail crime investigations and support the investigative efforts of federal, state and local law-enforcement agencies.
Taking a multitiered approach to organized crime, the participants will begin by bringing together a core group of NRF members and eBay representatives on a regular basis to discuss organized retail crime, brainstorm the best ways to prevent it, and take steps to eradicate the activity.
The participants will also work to identify ways to leverage new technology to help law enforcement identify and track organized retail crime rings. The NRF and eBay will collaborate with the FBI to identify crime rings that have been responsible for stealing merchandise in bulk and work on legislation to enhance federal law-enforcement resources to combat organized retail crime and punish major offenders.
“eBay has invested in a number of new resources and is making tremendous strides assisting retailers and law enforcement with tracking illegal behavior,” said Joe LaRocca, a senior asset-protection adviser at NRF. “The partnership between…